


Shipwrecked

by Mirmaid



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: 15th Century, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Desert Island, Historical Fantasy, I'll add more tags along the way, Language Barrier, M/M, MerMay, Merman Zuho, Shipwrecks, Stranded, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-12-30 12:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18315173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirmaid/pseuds/Mirmaid
Summary: After a heavy storm at sea, the ship Seokwoo works for capsizes and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Miraculously he strands on a deserted island as the sole survivor. In between survival and finding civilization, he finds out that sailor’s stories might not be as fictional as he had thought they were -or maybe he's just turning mad.Rated teen for now.





	1. Chapter 1: Seokwoo

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to @Debbie for inspiring me with this plot!

Seokwoo woke up coughing uncontrollably, his body aggressively forcing the salt sea water from his lungs. 

It hurt. The salt water was stinging in his respiratory system, his coughing was causing a painful sensation in his throat and his midriff was cramping from the violent contractions. There was sand in his mouth because his face was half buried into it, but he didn’t even notice as he was desperately trying to breathe between choking and the gulps of water that he gagged up from his stomach.

In a moment of clarity and with the use of the little strength he had left, Seokwoo managed to pull his knees under his body, his forehead still pressed against the sand as he tried to let the leftover water flow out of his lungs by keeping his body higher than his head.

For minutes he didn’t move from that position, until he was finally able to breathe again. His breathing was shallow and raspy, but it was enough to slowly bring him back to reality.

He was alive. Barely, but that was more than he could wish for. His clothes were soaked and his body ached -especially his shoulder- but there was land under him and air filling his lungs. 

Praise the lords for stranding him after that hellish storm. He had no clue what he had done to please the gods to keeping him alive, but he was immensely grateful. 

Seokwoo slowly slide back to the ground, dropping onto his right shoulder -because he doubted his left shoulder would bear his weight.

With his body no longer stressing his immediate survival, Seokwoo’s senses slowly came back to him. Gentle waves washed over his feet and the sea breeze blew through his wet hair and soaked clothes. The clouds broke and the welcome warmth of the sun shone down on him -warming his friged body.

He couldn’t hear voices or sounds of movement apart from the waves that crashed against the shore and the wind blowing through the leaves of vegetation. It was peaceful.

He needed to get up, find out if there were more survivors and search for people that could help them find a doctor and bring them back home. He knew the ship hadn’t survived. One of the last things he remembered was seeing it sink to its doom, while he was desperately trying to keep his own head above water. He had been hauled into one of the life boards, but it had been swept upside down by the wild, tower high waves. After that he remembered nothing.

Seokwoo opened his sticky eyelids, squinting at the brightness of day. It took a little before he was used to the light and was able to look around. From the angle he lay in, he didn’t see anything interesting. Driftwood, broken barrels, seashells and sand, lots and lots of sand.

He pushed himself up on his right arm, managing to sit down on his knees to look around. The weight of his left arm hurt his shoulder, so he supported it with the other as he looked around a little better.

He saw nobody. No surviving crew members or their dead bodies. The ship was nowhere to be found either, only some of its wrecks. There wasn’t even a hint of the storm left in the sky.

Further up shore, palm trees sprouted from the ground, followed by thicker vegetation that grew up towards a hill -something that looks like the leftovers of an ancient volcano. One that didn’t seem like it had bursted for a long time as trees and bushes grew all the way to the top. Looking to his left there was a rockwall reaching high leading further inland towards the hill and the other side of the beach reached far and curved out of sight in the distance.

There was no sign of civilization. No footprints in the sand, no buildings in the distance, no ships on the horizon. Nothing. No one. 

He was alone.

He needed to search further landward, but right now he did not have the energy or the strength to get himself through the forest that stretched in front of him.

He gathered the little energy he had left and forced himself onto his feet. His legs wobbled under his body as he stepped towards the treeline. He leaned with his back against a palm tree which stood between two larger rocks, surrounded by more palm trees that gave him a small shelter from the sun and the wind. Slowly he slide back down to the ground, leaning in between the tree and the rocks until he found a spot that was comfortable enough. 

His eyes closed almost immediately from exhaustion. 

\---

When he woke up again, he groaned at the pounding in his head. His stomach was growling, though that was not nearly as alarming as how dry his mouth and throat felt; drier than the Gobi desert. The sun stood low and at first he thought it was going down. When that didn’t happen, he realized that instead of darker, it turned lighter; indicating morning.

He had slept for long, still nobody found him.

He was cold. His muscles were still sore and his shoulder even more painful than before. He was a little less exhausted than a day earlier, though, which was a good sign. He might have added a little soreness to his back after sleeping in a strange position for longer than a night, but it was a subtle discomfort compared to the rest of his body.

Now the first thing he needed to take care of was his thirst. Then after that he should start searching the island for civilization. 

Using the tree as leverage, he managed to get back into his feet, this time a lot less wobbly. He took away the weight from his shoulder by holding his arm again, as he made his way over the easier to walk line of greenery between the trees and the beach.

There were still no footprints to be found, no bodies either. What he did find was a piece of rope which he used to make a sling to rest his arm in, some sails from the ship that must have drifted onto shore during the night and coconuts which he wrapped into the sails to easily drag them with one arm back to the trees and rocks he had slept between during the night.

With one useless arm, it took him almost all day to build himself a little shelter. Using the wet sails to make a ceiling above the rocks and between the trees. Knotting the fabric with one hand and his teeth, and fastening other ends with rocks which he either carried with one arm or rolled onto the sail with his foot.

Finally he found a pointier rock which he used to open the coconuts. It took him quite a while to open one, holding it in place with his knees and bashing into the fruit with the rock until the outer layer bursted. Every cut into it making him realize how weak his body was.

The juice was refreshing, sweet and finally wetting his dry lips and throat. The meat tasted like a feast after he realized how hungry he had been. Even though it wasn’t a large meal, that one coconut was filling his veins with enough energy to break open a second one to treat himself after more than a day without food or drinks.

\---

It took Seokwoo three more days to find out that the island he had stranded on might actually be completely deserted apart from birds and marine animals. He was not nearly done exploring the whole island, but thus far there was no sign of civilization.

He had been exploring the island as much as he possibly could while finding ways to keep himself alive. The third day on the island he went to the rock wall, finding caves that were large enough for him to walk through, with little pools of freshwater that were created by water dripping down from the ceiling and a small stream flowing out of the wall. His new supply for fresh water, as coconut juice was asking too much from his precious energy.

The fourth day he went over to the other side of the beach until he managed to get passed the curve, only seeing an even longer strip of empty beach. Many parts of the ship had washed up on shore, but there was still no sign of civilization whatsoever. 

Seokwoo had settled with the thought that everyone that would beach from now one, was most likely not going to be alive anymore, still he had expected to see remains. Maybe those bodies were already taken care of by preying sealife.

On his way back, he had tried to find anything useful between the rubble. His biggest concern being flint or anything else that he could use to start a fire. The days were almost too hot to bear in the sun, but during the night it got cold quickly. He had managed to keep himself warm in his clothes, some leftover sail and a leaf bed, but it was far from ideal. He needed a fire at some point to keep him warmer and to cook. His search failed.

The fifth day he dared to venture into the forest, where he found known and unknown fruits which birds were pecking at, giving him an indication that they might be eatable. It was a nice variation next to his coconuts, but he knew that he soon needed more than just fruit to survive.

\---

Seokwoo sat on a rock in the shade of the caves. One that was easily accessible from the beach as he still wasn’t able to use his left arm for climbing. By now, he found out that it might have been dislocated, as he wasn’t able to move his arm. It look badly bruised and there was a bump at the front that he figured might be the humerus head. Seeing that there wouldn’t be anyone on this island to help him out with it, he knew he probably needed to pull his arm back into his shoulder by himself at some point. Something that he hadn’t dared to do so yet. Something that he was stalling by telling himself there were more important things to worry about for now, like finding a proper food source. Even though he knew stalling it would only make it more difficult in the long run.

He was staring into the distance, exhausted and slightly overheated. His eyes were on the horizon but not seeing. His mind wandering into nothingness to make the heat more bearable.

He had been trying to fish the entire morning already, with a makeshift spear that he had created out of a long straight branch which he sharpened with a jagged rock to a point. A task he had given himself in the past few days when he took shelter from the burning sun. He was not skilled in spearfishing however, and with one arm in a sling and his shoulder aching every time he made a wrong move, it was almost impossible to gain the skill as well. Waiting and aiming for the fish that swam around the rocks was easy, but striking down with the spear was a whole different story. He wasn’t quick enough, his strength and speed gone because of malnutrition.

His eyes turned to the water below him, the fish swimming by like there was no threat above them. He felt defeated, not to the point that he would give up, but to where he desperately tried to think about a better way to catch fish. He hadn’t found thread thin and strong enough to use for a fishing pole or anything that he could make a hook from. Weaving a fishtrap would be the best option, but with just one arm that was getting quite impossible as well.

If only he wasn’t the sole survivor. If only there was just one more person on this island which he could join forces with, talk to, embrace. He was a people’s person, needing the comfort from someone around him. Animals would be great too, but the birds on the island weren’t used to him yet and flew away with every movement -parrots climbing higher into the trees when he walked past them. The marine animals weren’t any better. Staring at them was as far as he could go with them. The fish were beautiful, but didn’t do much for social interactions.

He was lonely.

Reality hit him harder than it had done in the past few days. His mind wandered to dangerous places; Home, family, friends. People he would never see again if nobody saved him from this island. The only hope he had was surviving long enough for someone to find him. If loneliness wouldn’t drive him mad first.

He could feel tears welling into the corners of his eyes, not even trying to hold them back. There was nobody around to see them and he needed that moment of stress relief even if it would only last for a little. The tears quietly ran down his cheeks and he didn’t even reach out to wipe them off.

Seokwoo snapped out of his weak moment when he saw something coming straight at him from the corner of his eyes. He was too slow to dodge and met with a cold mucussy slap against his cheek, almost knocking him off the rock. Not because of the impact but because he almost lost his balance while ducking away.

Bewildered he stared at quite a large struggling fish that fell down next to him, flopping from side to side in hopes of finding water again. There were a few seconds in which Seokwoo just stared at it, -baffled and trying to wrap his mind around what just happened- before the realization came that it could be his next meal.

He lashed out too late. The fish just flopping itself off the rock into the water. It’s tail brushing against his fingers as it slipped away. Giving him that moment of regret that he let his dinner slip away.

“No, no, no, no, come back!” Seokwoo lamented as he saw the fish speeding off into the ocean.

He dropped himself back onto his ass, pulled his head back and rubbed through his tear-wet eyes as he brought out a frustrated groan. That fish would’ve been worth at least two days of food. 

He probably should be surprised about how high the fish had jumped, but rather than that he quickly turned back to the water, looking around to see if it was swimming somewhere nearby. He didn’t think he could catch it, but that didn’t hold him back from trying.

With new found energy and motivation he grabbed his spear again, holding it up to strike just in case it swam back. He doubted it, but it was worth a shot.

Another fish, or maybe the same one, came his way through the air. Seokwoo yelped, but this time reacted quick enough to reach out for the fish before it hit his face. It was too big and slippery though and with one hand difficult to catch, especially because the fish was struggling like his life depended on it -which it did. It dropped back down onto the rock. Seokwoo reached out for it, but it slipped out of his grasp again, flopped around too quickly and dropped itself back into the water. 

Seokwoo reached for his spear as quickly as he could and attacked blindly, just hoping he would accidently pin the fish to his spear.

Nothing. Just a lot more shoulder pain as a result of his of his sudden movements.

His eyes were fixed on the water beneath him, his spear still lowered into the water for a quick strike. Then he realized that he might have to peer over the water, because apparently fishes jumped around here. 

In the distance he noticed something big disappearing into the water. It was too far away for a fish to jump his direction, but maybe there was a shoal swimming about and hopefully they would come back closer again. 

He scanned the water around him. Searching for more spots were fish leaping out, but he saw none. Maybe he had to move further towards the caves where he had seen something disappearing.

Before he could get up something bumped up against his spear. His eyes flicked down and he pulled his spear up for a quick strike.

Seokwoo stopped mid attack, holding his spear above his head. His eyes widened when they fell on a male’s face staring up at him, barely peeking above the water surface. 

The male seemed surreal. His hair fading from silver to blue, pushed back to show of his sharp features; His eyes the same silvery-blue, bright and widening in shock as they glanced up at Seokwoo.

Seokwoo stared back, not sure if the face he was looking at was real or if his mind was playing tricks on him.

Before he could do or say something a wave washed over the face and it was gone. The last thing he saw was the tip of a shark’s tail splashing above water and disappearing into the sea.

A shark’s tail...? 

Seokwoo shook his head, trying to wake himself up from whatever was playing with his mind. It was just a shark. He must have imagined the face, because mermaids didn’t exist. They were just sailor’s stories. The heat was probably getting to his head or maybe the delicious, unknown fruits he ate that morning made him hallucinate. He should skip that one from his diet.

In the strange turn of events, Seokwoo hadn’t noticed the weight difference on his spear and only when he sat back down -accepting the fact that he was hallucinating- realized something was moving at the end of his weapon: A fish, weakly struggling and similar to the fishes that had jumped towards him.

Though, Seokwoo didn’t remember catching it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MirmaidWrites)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I dunno if anyone is interested, but I have a sims 4 problem as well..  
> And like... I made the Zuho and Rowoon from this fic..  
> I added the them to my gallery. If you search for the hashtag #shipwreckedfanfic you should be able to find the household!  
> They are not perfect, but I hope you'll like them!


	2. Chapter 2: Juho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished just in time!  
> Now I really really REALLY need to start packing my bags for SF9 in Berlin!
> 
> BYE! <3

The human was handsome up close. Captivating. Charming. No matter how worn he looked.

Stranding really took its toll on the guy. His cheeks were starting to show signs of malnutrition even after just five days. The bags under his dark-brown eyes were swollen from the lack of proper sleep and the sun burning down on him had caused his skin to become raw and red. 

Seeing the human up close, Juho realized he expected humans to look different. Sure, he knew they looked alike from the waist up, but he never expected them to be so identical. He expected them to be far more horrendous, more like the monsters the stories let them sound to be -or at least a lot less attractive.

Juho froze instinctively when the widened, dark-brown human eyes stared down at him. The human was raising his primitive spear above his head and didn’t even seem to notice the fish Juho skewered on to it for him mere seconds ago.

He was scared. Humans were considered predators. They didn’t feed on merfolk -or at least not as far as Juho knew. However, the elders warned hatchlings with stories about their nets and spears -which they used to catch fish- and how they liked to possess anything that was foreign to them. Especially when it looked beautiful or unusual; Merfolk being one of those things.

Though, this human seemed confused and shocked rather than hostile. Not surprising as merfolk normally tried to stay away from them. Chances were that he had never spotted a merman, just like Juho had never met a human before ‒ or at least never up close. He had seen them on their floats from afar but had never dared to get closer.

When a big wave washed over the merman and the eye contact between him and the human finally broke, Juho took his chance to escape. Quickly he turned around and swam away deeper back into the ocean. His heart was racing, half in panic, half in excitement. The human had seen him even though he had tried to keep himself hidden the past few days. Getting this close had been a stupid mistake. Maybe he should have kept throwing fish at him until he managed to catch one.

He fled as fast as he could -even when the human could never follow him into the depths, not even if he was able to use that painful looking arm of his. Then, he sped straight into a small cavern between rocks and coral reefs, letting out a hoarse, distressed ‘Youngbin!’ as soon as he entered. He hid himself between the wall and his leopard shark friend who just bit into a freshly caught, still moving eel. 

“Did a pantopoda crawl into you bed again?” The merman was half laughing as he tried to look over his shoulder to his friend who was now hugging him from the back.

“He saw me, Youngbin!” Juho stressed, hiding his face between the shark’s shoulder blades.

“Who? The human?”

Juho nodded.

“Are you still helping him out?”

There was evident in Youngbin’s voice that he still didn’t understand why he would help the foreign creature. Logically, the reasons he gave his friends were debatable. 

Feeling bad for the human was his most prominent reason. The poor guy survived the heavy storm, only to be left to die of hunger and thirst on a deserted island.

Juho was a little curious about him as well. He had never been able to watch humans from this close before. Parts of their bodies were similar, still they were not nearly as adapted to the sea. They couldn’t be underwater for long -having no gills and only lungs was no excuse, as mammal merfolk were able to stay underwater -depending on what marine animal they descended from- between fifteen minutes and two hours.

Something else that he was curious about was how they managed to stay out of the water without drying out. They could explore land, while it was impossible for merfolk to do so. Breathing was not a problem -they had lungs and gills- but they couldn’t stay out of the water for a long period of time, in risk of losing moisture through their skin.

Humans were in a way their land equivalent, though didn’t have fur, feathers or scales like other land animals.

Juho had one more reason to help the human. One that he hadn’t told his friends because he was scared they would think he’d gone crazy. And maybe they would be right.

Their ancestors wrote in the old scripts that when the whales sing in unison they guide the whale guardian to someone in need. On the night of the storm the whales sang a sad song which they carried from the sinking ship towards the island the human stranded on not long after. It did not help that they stopped singing and disappeared deeper into the ocean after Juho decided to help the human out.

It might have been nothing, a coincidence, Juho knew that. He had never heard of stories in which the ocean gods helped land creatures out, anyway. Still, when he saw the human stranding alive, he felt the need to make survival a little easier for him.

“Was he… hostile?” Youngbin broke Juho’s train of thoughts.

Juho couldn’t directly answer that. The human had raised his spear at him, but thinking about it he was probably just desperate for fish -for food. It hadn’t seemed like he wanted to attack him as soon as he saw what he was trying to hunt.

“I’m… not sure.”

“I mean, I don’t believe they eat merfolk, because we look too similar...” Youngbin’s words trailed off. “Well they do in the west, around the solomon and coral sea.”

A shiver ran down Juho’s spine at the mere subject. “But they eat their own kind there as well, right?” He had heard the stories, but it was pretty specific to a certain area.

Youngbin hummed confirming.

“This one looks like he is more from the far north-west. Maybe from around the Chinese sea.”

Chanhee slipped into the cove chuckling as he saw the reef shark wrapped around Youngbin’s body. “Did you find a pantopoda in your bed again?”

Youngbin quickly finished his eel at the sight of Chanhee. Chanhee probably didn’t mind, but Youngbin liked to be considerate to his eel descended friend and at least eat them whenever he was not around.

“You’re alone today?” He asked his mouth still full of eel.

“Taeyang and Youngkyun disappeared on the way here.” The ribbon eel shrugged his shoulders, not at all surprised that he lost them, and swam to a basket he knew was filled with a freshly caught fish.

Youngbin turned his attention back to Juho. “Anyway, he’ll probably just brush it off thinking he is imagining things. From afar things can look different on top of the water surface.” He shrugged his shoulders as he swallowed his last bite. “Besides with that sun burning down on him he might have seen a lot of weird things by now.”

Juho groaned softly because he knew that the human had seen him properly. “I got right under him. He was crying about not being able to catch fish and throwing them at him from a distance didn’t work.” Juho sighed.

“I’d told you he was going to keep it as a pet.” Chanhee chuckled.

Juho raised his eyebrow perplexed. “As a... pet?” Keeping him as a pet had never even crossed his mind before.

“It’s caged on an isolated island and you are feeding it. That is called a pet.” He swam to the corner with a snack, seeming to end the conversation there, but then continued speaking. “Don’t they normally live in shoals? Maybe you should find him a mate before he gets lonely.”

Juho looked curiously over Youngbin’s shoulder. “Do they get lonely?” In that case maybe he should find a way to keep the guy entertained. He didn’t want the human to turn mad of loneliness before he could leave. Finding another human was not going to be an option. They were too far away and he wanted to get the human off the island safely rather than keeping him there. Sure there would be another way to keep him occupied until he was able to return home.

Youngbin shook his head with a sigh. “Just be careful, ok?” He advised Juho, who was now slowly coming back from his nervous breakdown and leaning with his chin on the leopard shark’s shoulder. “His priority is probably surviving, but you never know what he’s thinking. Humans are strange creatures.”

“I don’t think he’s planning anything else than staying alive.” Juho promised.

“And if he is dangerous, just lure him into the water and drown him.” 

Youngbin snorted, while Juho was horrified by how casually Chanhee spoke those words. “Since when did you turn into a siren?”

Chanhee shrugged his shoulders with a dark smile.

\---

“So, what are we exactly searching for?” Sanghyuk asked, as they crossed the open sea towards a shipwreck that was not taken over by sealife yet.

“Anything that looks useful or entertaining for humans.” It had taken Juho a full day to muster up his courage to help out the human again and once he told the others he wanted to go search the shipwreck Sanghyuk followed him curiously.

“I have no clue what is useful.” The spotted mandarin dragonet claimed, his interest undefeated by that knowledge. His eyes were curiously scanning the exterior of the ship that came closer in view.

Juho couldn’t argue, he had no clue either. He had inspected the ship over the past few days and honestly all of it seemed useless to him. Some things he had already collected and made them strand onto the human’s beach, but that didn’t mean he knew what they were for. 

There were a few things he knew were handy, like rope or anything that looked like it could be used as a container for whatever. Other things he gathered were things he had no clue of what they were. It were human things, so they should be useful to the human, right?

He had been glad to see that the guy used some of the things already, like the rope and sail he stranded the first day he found him.

“Just take it when it looks like it could be useful.”

Wary fish swam from various cramped places, corners and cracks when the mermen swam into the ship, scared that they were on today’s menu. The mermen didn’t pay a moment of their attention to them however and went straight into exploring the ship, finding various objects within no time that might be useful for the human. Though, neither of them had a clue what most of them were.

There was this small box with an arrow in it that pointed into the same direction no matter which way you held it. They also found some kind of tappered tube that when looking through it one side made things smaller, and from the other side made things bigger. Sanghyuk found it and almost poked Juho’s eyes out when looking through the side that shrunk things.

They were already searching for quite a while, when Sanghyuk managed to get down deck and found even more stuff hidden in the ship. One of those things being large heavy cylinders that stuck out of the sides of the ship.

“This looks useful.” Sanghyuk announced excitedly. He inspected the cylinders carefully, trying to find out what the hell they did.

“What is it?”

“No clue, but there are multiple so they are probably important.” Sanghyuk said the matter of factly and pointed at another five of those things.

He stuck his arm inside the cylinder only to stress out an eel who apparently had decided to make it his new home. He pulled it out and carelessly threw it behind him -the eel quickly sped off towards a safer place. Sankhyuk didn’t find anything interesting apart from the eel and some kind of black sand.

“We should give your human one of those.” Sanghyuk proudly tapped the cylinder. “He’ll know what to do with it.”

Juho stared thoughtfully at the cylinder, just like Sanghyuk trying to find out what it was. Maybe it was useful, but it looked heavy and he had no clue how to get it to shore. He put his weight against it, trying to move it, but it didn’t budge. “Maybe another time.” He said. “We need a few more people to get this to the beach.”

Sanghyuk nodded and was immediately distracted by some barrels that were scattered over the wooden floor. 

Juho pulled his eyes away from the cylinders and quietly looked around -the few things that he decided to take with him tightly in his arms. In the corner of his eyes he noticed Sanghyuk opening one of the barrels and panicky tried to close it again as the red with green fruits within it floated out right away.

“Is that food?” Juho went over to him, grabbing one of the fruits that had floated to the ceiling. He had seen the human eating the island’s fruits, so he knew humans were able to eat plant matter. He hadn’t seen the other eating this fruit though. In fact, Juho had never seen this kind of fruit before. It was stored on the ship however, so it might actually be something the human ate.

He looked around, to see if there was more like this. Sanghyuk was opening another barrel, this time with something that looked like meat that was soaked full with sea water. 

“Do you think we can get these to the beach together?” 

Sanghyuk answered by flexing his biceps. “Easy!”

\---

Juho leaned with his back against the barrels with food, the long metal tube Sanghyuk found earlier in his hands. The other left a while ago already, after he had helped him getting the barrel as far towards the beach as the tides allowed them, and left with the note that waiting for high tides was boring.

Juho hadn’t been bored for a second, however. He had been staring through the tube for a while now and started to understand its purpose. If you looked through one side you could stare far into the distance. Maybe it wouldn’t be as useful as Juho had expected when they found the thing, but since he had it with him he’d just give it to the human. 

The small box with the arrow in it was still a mystery to him. He figured that it was broken, but who knows, maybe the human was able to repair it and hopefully use it -whatever it was used for.

He dropped the tube onto the ocean floor and peeked over the barrel towards the beach. The tides were already a lot higher than before, maybe even at their highests.

Leaving the smaller objects on the ocean floor, Juho decided to get the barrels onto the beach first. They were the heaviest and he wanted to get rid of the most difficult things before he’d bring the rest. Closer to the beach, he carefully peeked above the waves to see if the human was around.

The small camp looked deserted. All useful stuff laying in a heap close to the makeshift shelter between the rocks and trees, next to the human’s scarce food reservations. The coast was clear. The guy was probably at the caves or in the forests ahead.

It took him a few minutes to roll both the barrels onto shore far enough that they wouldn’t be swept back into the sea by the waves. They were heavy enough that he didn’t need to push them all the way to dry land, still he had to get far enough out of the water that his body was dragging over the sand.

He gave the barrels one more good push to roll them just a little further, when he heard a careful, confused voice and almost immediately after saw a handsome, frowning face appeared from behind the barrel.

Juho’s eyes widened at the sight of the human. He was still at a distance, but it was obvious that he had noticed him.

Juho pushed himself back, trying to turn himself around as quickly as possible, but the waves drew back rather than helping him to get back into the safety of the water.

The human stopped hesitantly a few arm lengths away from Juho and the barrels and spoke in a language Juho didn’t understand. Soft careful words that ended in a higher tone, as if he was asking him something; as if he was trying to figure something out.

There was a moment of silence and when Juho didn’t answer the human took a careful step closer.

Juho immediately pushed his hands back into the sand, anxiously sweeping with his tail, trying to get himself away from the beach back into the ocean. The human sounded panicked now, reaching out for him and repeating a certain word a few times, before he turned to full sentences again.

“Don’t come closer!” Juho hissed, then bared his teeth at him in a empty threat.

The human stopped immediately. His reached out hand lowering. He moved a foot back, though didn’t shift his weight onto it yet.

Juho pushed his hands further into the sand, keeping his eyes on the guy so that he could see his every move.

Finally a wave big enough came to rescue him. Water swept around his body and he quickly took advantage of it to get back deeper into the ocean.

More foreign words were thrown at him, now desperation in the guy’s voice.

Juho moved slowly further back into the ocean, keeping his eyes above the water. Seeing the human at a distance now made him feel sorry for him again. He looked desperate; defeated. His shoulders hung, his arm now back to his sides as he stared at the merman. If only Juho could understand what he wanted, then he might actually be able to help him out.

There was one more soft pleading sounding sentence and Juho couldn’t help but feel his heart break a little at the sound of it. If only he could let the other know he had no clue how to help him. He pulled his whole head above the water, but hesitated. 

“I-I don’t understand your language!” 

Then he quickly disappeared under water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MirmaidWrites)


	3. Chapter 3: Seokwoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember planning to finish this before the end of mermay... so... yeah........

Baffled Seokwoo stared at how two barrels rolled onto the beach. They were without a doubt being pushed, because the barrels just didn’t strand in sync with the waves. What -or who- was pushing them onto the beach he could not see from this distance, but he had an idea and hoped he was right.

He swallowed nervously as it reminded him of the possible hallucination he had a day before. Part of him wanted to believe it had just been a shark. Another part of him hoped it to be an actual merman -no matter how unrealistic it might sound. He just wanted the confirmation that he wasn’t turning mad and that the loneliness wasn’t turning on him already.

Slowly, he dropped his bag with fruit - or rather his shirt which he used as a bag - to the ground. Normally he’d wear that same shirt draped over his shoulders when he walked underneath the unforgiving sun at this time of day, but too confused about what was happening in front of him he totally forgot about that.

He took slow and careful steps closer, until he saw a tailfin splashing around in the little waves that surrounded it. A shark’s tail; grey, but the tips of the fins were black -- a black tip reef shark he remembered from his previous journeys. 

The smooth looking shark skin blended with something that looked an awful lot like human skin. Seokwoo’s heart skipped a few beats, his foot hovering above the sand as he hesitated in his step. His eyes trailed over the spine, almost hypnotized by how the human shoulder blades moved under skin as the merman was working hard to get the barrels onto the beach. The guy moved back a little, his bluish grey hair now visible to Seokwoo, but it seemed like he hadn’t noticed the human, yet.

Seokwoo took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his excitement. Mermaid were real. Yesterday it had been so sudden that he could just have imagined it all, but right now the merman looked so vivid - so... real.

“Y-you are real… right?” Seokwoo nibbled his bottom lip insecurely, his eyes fixed on the merman behind the barrels as if he was scared the image would disappear if he looked away or blinked. “Am I imagining you? Please tell me I’m not turning mad.”

The moment he spoke those words, two bright bluish grey eyes looked up at him in shock. The merman froze immediately, only staring at him in pure terror.

Nothing happened. No response and no movement, so Seokwoo decided to carefully step closer.

That had been a mistake. The merman started panicking, trying to move away, but seemed to be unable to get away as quickly as he wanted to. Seokwoo’s immediate urge was helping him back in the water, but he feared the merman would be freaked out even more if he got closer, so he refrained from doing so. “No no no no! I’m not going to hurt you! I’m sorry! I won’t come closer! Please don’t leave!” He was holding his arm in front of him, waving it at the merman in hopes that he would see that he was unarmed and not planning to hurt him in anyway.

The merman finally reacted, but not in the way Seokwoo had expected. Words were hissed at him in a language he didn’t understand and a set of human-like teeth were bared to him.

Seokwoo dropped his arms to his sides and moved back, both in confusion by the sudden knowledge that the merman probably didn’t understand a word of what he just said, and in caution because he didn’t want to scare the guy any more than he already did.

He watched the merman pushing further back, their eyes locked onto each other.

“You don’t understand a word of what I’m saying, do you?” Seokwoo asked defeated, not expecting a response.

Seokwoo watched disappointed how the merman got back into the water, his body swaying with the waves as he kept peeking above the water.

“Please, don’t leave.” Seokwoo’s last pleas came, knowing very well that this merman wouldn’t be the best conversational partner seeing that they couldn’t understand each other, but it would be nice to just hear a voice, rather than the cheerful chirping of songbirds and insects or the screeching of parrots.

When the merman was far enough away from the beach -his eyes still fixed on Seokwoo- he moved up, all the way till his shoulders rose above the water. Hoarse words followed and Seokwoo was a little surprised by how deep his voice actually was. This time the words were not hissed, but rather spoken a little insecurely. 

Seokwoo’s heart jumped up, hoping it meant the merman would stay. Maybe he’d only keep him company at a distance, but that was more than fine to Seokwoo. As long as he wouldn’t leave. 

Yet, as soon as the words were spoken, the guy disappeared below the water surface.

For minutes long, Seokwoo stared at the ocean. His eyes were scanning desperately between the waves, hoping that he’d come back, while the sun merciless burned down on his bare skin.

But the merman didn’t return.

\---

In the days that followed, Seokwoo found many more objects from the ship that he hadn’t seen before. Some could have drifted on shore on their own, like empty crates, clothing or a set of wooden dice the crew had used for gambling in their spare time. However, there were also things that didn’t float. Things that were made of a heavier material that would sink right to the bottom of the ocean, like a spyglass, a compass or a glass vial of ink - things that could only have been brought to the surface on purpose.

Not everything was useful, but he was glad with anything at this point, especially because it gave him the knowledge that someone was out there helping him. Merman or not.

Seokwoo was staring at the horizon, the spyglass in his hands. He found it not long after he had seen the merman and immediately rinsed all the salt and dirt out. After that he had used it multiple times just to stare across the sea. At first, he convinced himself that he was doing it to spot ships in the distance, but he caught himself early on that he was using it mostly to see if the merman came back. He would sit in the shade behind his shelter -like he was doing right now- and just calmly search the coastline. Especially the areas he most often found items.

He quickly found out that everything always beached after high tides, so he mostly planned his ocean viewing around that time.

He hadn’t spotted the merman since the barrels, however, and it made him doubt his own eyes and mind. Again. He hadn’t given up, however. The mere thought that someone was out there was enough to keep him slightly sane. Even if the thought itself might not be all that logical. 

After a few minutes he lowered the spyglass, observing it momentarily before sighing softly to himself. He should be doing something more useful than staring across the sea. Like, trying to find out how to make a fire with just one arm, because all the raw food was upsetting his digestive system. Especially the ripe coconuts worked as a laxative. It was a good thing that he had a proper fresh water supply in the caves, otherwise he’d be dried out by now for sure. 

Maybe he should just get over his fears and relocate his arm so that he could use them both again. He hadn’t seen a single ship on the horizon since he stranded, or found anything that indicated civilisation on the island yet, so he knew he had to relocate his arm back himself at some point.

A loud metallic bang made Seokwoo’s heart jump to his throat. He looked up right away, scanning the beach and noticing an object that he knew hadn’t been there before. What it was he couldn’t see from this distance. He grabbed his spyglass again, but rather than zooming in on the metal object he traced a line towards the ocean.

And there he was again, looking exactly how Seokwoo remembered him looking the last two times. he was throwing more stuff onto the beach, this time from a safer distance deeper in the water. His wet, grey-blue hair pushed back again.

If the bang hadn’t sped up Seokwoo’s heartbeat, it would have definitely quickened by the sight of the merman. Seokwoo wanted to jump up and run towards the sea, but he held back.

The guy looked shocked himself, head moving from side to side in slight panic -probably to see if Seokwoo was coming after the sound. A cautious man, but maybe that was normal for mermaids -maybe it was the reason why they were fairy tales and sailor’s stories, rather than known creatures.

Still, Seokwoo wanted to get closer. He wanted to meet the merman properly. Show him that he wasn’t here to hurt him and that he just wanted to get to know him. 

Nonverbally, however. This was going to be a challenge.

Seokwoo stood up calmly after the merman decided that the coast was clear and tried to make as little noise as possible, scared to chase the guy away. He could take a good few steps closer to the sea before the merman finally noticed him. They both froze. Seokwoo holding his breath as if a single movement was going to chase the guy away.

The merman disappeared below the water surface.

“No!” Seokwoo reached out almost desperate and sprinted a few steps into the direction of the sea. He stopped as soon as the guy’s face appeared above the water again, a few meters offshore.

Seokwoo took a step back in the wet sand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you.” He spoke calmly, but the other didn’t move or reply.

Seokwoo slowly sat down on the sand, legs folded, trying to look as calm and collected as possible. “I’ll stay here. Please don’t leave.”

The merman was just staring at him, looking wary, but also slightly curious. Only the top half of his face was visible now, his eyes just peeking above the water. In the clearness of the water, Seokwoo was able to get a glimpse of his body, but he was too far away to properly see the sharktail.

“So... you are a mermaid, right?” Seokwoo spoke softly. He knew the merman wasn’t able to understand a word of what he was saying, but he kind of hoped the other would hear in the tone of his voice that he was no threat to him. “I know I’m not a really good conversational partner, but maybe you can keep me company for a little longer?”

The merman remained where he was and just stared, until a few minutes later he slowly moved further above the water and threw something towards Seokwoo.

It went so fast that Seokwoo had no clue what to expect. He yelped and moved back quickly, thinking the merman was attacking him, until a pair of soaked leather boots dropped down before him.

With his heart pounding in his throat he stared at them for a moment, until he realized he had been scared of a pair of boots and started laughing at himself. He grabbed one of them, holding it upside down to get the water out, before looking at them a little better. They looked fine. Used, but not worn.

He pulled one of his own off and quickly fitted the soaked boots. They were a little small on him, but it was doable. Definitely helpful in case his own were walked through. As long as he wouldn’t dwell too long on the thought that these were probably from one of the crew members of his ship they would be fine.

Seokwoo felt his mood drop for a moment. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about the crew a lot, because mourning wasn’t going to help him through survival.

“Thanks.” He said hoarse, as he pulled his boot off. He looked up with a pained smile, to show the merman that he was happy with the gift and hoped desperately that his troubled feelings weren’t shining through.

Trying to set his mind back on track to happier thoughts, he realized he probably should give the other something in return. But what? Maybe fruit, or at least something food related that merfolk probably couldn’t get their hands on.

Slowly he stood up, trying not to make any sudden movements. “Please don’t leave.” He said carefully, holding his hands in front of him, hoping the merman would understand. “I want to give you something.” After a few steps back, and making sure the merman didn’t leave, he turned around and quickly walked back to his shelter where he grabbed the first mango in his reach.

He walked back quickly, fearing the merman would be gone, but when he got back the guy was still there. He hadn’t moved and just looked at him, lightly confused and clearly pondering if he should leave or not.

Once close enough Seokwoo walked slower again until he was at the same spot he had been sitting before right at the edge of the waves crashing on shore. He took a few more calculated steps -until the merman seemed to get uncomfortable about him getting closer- and sat down in the refreshing water. He reached out the mango as far as he could. “Here. You can have it” He smiled at the guy. “For helping me out.”

The merman didn’t move a muscle and just switched glances between the mango and the human.

“It is food.” He motioned for his mouth, then to make it even clearer he acted like he was taking a bite out of the fruit.

No movement, just staring.

Not sure if the merman understood him, Seokwoo took a bite out of the mango, trying to make it clearer than it was meant to be eaten.

Finally there was some movement. They guy came a little closer, though no further than the waves allowed him. He was hesitantly staring at the mango and licking his lips.

Seokwoo could not reach from that distance and last time the merman seemed very spooked about being out of the water further than he was now, so he slowly stood up. He kept low -trying not to look like the dangerous giant the merman probably saw him as- until he was in a little more than an arm’s reach away from the other.

There was hesitation in the merman’s expression, but curiosity as well. Inch by inch he got closer. The merman’s backfin stuck threateningly above the water as he swam closer. 

All of a sudden realization came down on Seokwoo.

The guy was a shark and sometimes sharks ate unlucky humans as well. Not all of them did, but he had no clue if reef sharks did. Most shark stories were about the great whites. He started to feel uneasy. The merman had seemed scared before, but what if it was just an act? Didn’t mermaids lure sailors into the depths with song? This guy hadn’t sung to him, but what if this was his way of hunting? He hesitantly moved back.

The merman noticed his uneasiness and suddenly stopped, spooked as well. He looked over his shoulder, to see if there was something behind him, until he realized that Seokwoo was scared off him. 

Seokwoo decided to throw the mango at the merman. At first he hadn’t want to soil the sweetness of it with the salt of the water, but he rather be safe at this point.

Shocked the merman let it fall into the water right before him. He quickly caught it before it sank to the bottom and pulled it above the water. Clearly interested, but at the same time wondering if he could pull his eyes off the human in front of him. His eyes moved to the hole Seokwoo had bitten out.

With the merman focused on the fruit, Seokwoo calmed down a little. The guy didn’t act hostile and more interested in the mango than in him, still he kept his guard. 

“You can eat it.” Seokwoo repeated the eating motion again.

The merman looked up at him, then at the fruit again. Carefully he took a bite out of it. It took a few chews before and delighted twinkle appeared in the merman’s eyes. Seokwoo smiled, feeling the tenseness of his fear slowly fading, as it seemed like the merman seemed to enjoy the fruit and seemly had never tasted a mango before.

The merman took another bite, and another, and then he suddenly stopped, remembering something. He suddenly reached out the mango for Seokwoo to grab it again and when met with a confused look on the human’s face spoke some words in that unknown language and repeated the eating gestures Seokwoo had used before, then he pointed at Seokwoo.

Did he want to share it?

Seokwoo hesitated, but then slowly moved a little deeper into the water until he was able to actually reach for the mango. His fingers brushed over the webbed hand for only a second, the roughness of shark skin. They both pull back a little in shock by the accidental touch, but in the process Seokwoo managed to take the mango. 

He bit into it, the fruit’s flesh slightly salty from the sea water, but still sweet and juicy. He wanted to give it back to the merman, but then was met with a hand being waved in front of him, being pointed at again and the eating gesture again.

“Do you want me to eat it myself?” For a moment Seokwoo was confused, since the merman had seemed to like the taste of the fruit, but then something came to mind. He looked over his shoulder at his badly constructed shelter on the beach, then back to the merman. He had stranded there and since then many objects had stranded after that. The merman had even given him a fish before and now he wanted him to eat the fruit he had gathered himself. Could it be that he just didn’t want him to starve? 

Seokwoo decided to listen and finished the salted mango on his own, then stuffed the seed into one of the pockets on his belt -to plant it somewhere in the forest later on- and turned his attention back to the merman. He hadn’t moved, and he seemed more relaxed than before, yet still a little wary. He wasn’t nearly as jumpy as before, though. He still didn’t seem hostile either, unless he was a very good actor. He was close enough for the merman to easily attack him if he wanted to and deep enough in the water for it to be difficult for him to get out, still he didn’t.

“Thanks for staying.” He said smiling, causing the merman to look at him in confusion. “I haven’t seen a friendly face in days.”

The merman replied with words that Seokwoo remembered as the same combination of words the other had used a few days earlier -just before he disappeared below the water surface. He only recognized them because those words had stuck into his mind ever since. Or rather the melody behind their words had stuck to him. It was clear the merman spoke, yet the change in pitch within the words was making them sound almost like a song. It sounded like a beautiful language, one that he might actually want to learn. And maybe he should, because if there was one merman, there probably were more. If this was the language they spoke, maybe it would be a smart idea to learn it.

Besides, maybe if he was able to learn the language the merman would keep him company. He needed the company more than food or water to stay sane.

But first, he should know his name, if merman had names that was. They had a language, so they probably had names as well, but how was he supposed to ask?

Feeling slightly stupid Seokwoo pointed at his chest. “Seokwoo.” He said clearly, then pointed at the merman.

The merman seemed confused, so Seokwoo repeated it, until the merman started repeating his name. It was spoken weirdly, the sound of his name strange on the merman’s tongue, but still Seokwoo nodded, smiling gladly. Just hearing his voice was making him feel more comfortable already.

He did it again, pointing at himself, repeated his name then pointed at the merman. Until there was a spark of understanding in the merman’s eyes. 

“Juho.” The merman spoke, pointing at his chest, then pointing at Seokwoo and repeating the human’s name.

Seokwoo could feel the corners of his mouth curling into a smile. “Juho.” He repeated.

The merman repeated his name again, trying to help the human to pronounce it right, but even Seokwoo could hear how he pronounced the name was nothing like the merman pronounced it. Still he received a warm smile from the merman in return.

Seokwoo smiled back happily.

Juho the black tip reef shark. That was a good starting point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not think of another way of writing this without the classical "me Tarzan, you Jane" scene... so... yeah... hope you guys don't mind :'D

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno if anyone is interested, but I have a sims 4 problem as well..  
> And like... I made the Zuho and Rowoon from this fic..  
> I added the them to my gallery. If you search for the hashtag #shipwreckedfanfic you should be able to find the household!  
> They are not perfect, but I hope you'll like them!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MirmaidWrites)


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